The Wild Horse of Middle-Earth
Ch. 3
I OWN NOTHING!
Ranma could only stare in utter shock at the little baby that lay at his feet, bawling her eyes out. He then slowly stared at his arms and legs and his body, he was suddenly over six feet tall! How the hell did that happen!
Gandalf was once again the first to recover; he looked at the two in front of him then after a moment said. "Well young man, I believe that when I removed that other form from you it had more life in it then any thought. Tell me how long have you had this curse?"
"Around six months." Ranma replied to him still stunned at what happened.
"It seems to me that this curse has been aging in its own way and I removed it became its own being, to put it bluntly you are now a father and that is your daughter." Gandalf replied.
Ranma only took a moment to process that. "Wait, if that's my curse then…" He bolted over to a pitcher of water and dunked it over his head. He grabbed a hank of his hair and looked at it. "Jet black! JET BLACK!" He then patted himself down just to make sure and then, "YEEHAW!!!!! I AM CURED BABY!" He started dancing around and singing snippets of songs. He grabbed anybody who came near him and would spin them around to the point of making them light headed and nauseous.
Then the little girl made a particularly loud shriek which prompted one of the female Elves to pick her up and wrap her up in loose cloth and carry her over to Ranma. She then offered the little girl to him.
He looked long and hard at this little girl; she was a representation of everything he had been put through since Jusenkyo. Memories of being mauled by angry females, groped and kissed by nutball men, forced to wear dresses, lie to his mother, have to hide from her to save his own skin, and know about CERTAIN FEMININE ISSUES that no guy should EVER have to find out.
He was about to turn away when she opened her eyes and looked at him with eyes that were as blue as his own, then she actually smiled at the young man. Any thought of rejecting her disappeared, and he took her from the Elf and touched her forehead and then looking at the fiery sun and how her little patch of hair was just as red, he was reminded of an ancient word for the sun he had heard and then gave her a name "Anarien. My little sun" He mumbled under his breath.
Then another horrible thought came to mind, "AAAAAAAAGH! How the hell am I supposed to take care of a baby?!!"
Elrond stepped forward and said, "There is no problem, my people would be more then glad to help take care of your daughter, however there is something we request you to do."
Ranma's getting suckered sonar went off and the suspicion was obvious in his voice, "What's it you want?"
Gandalf then decided to speak up and said, "The Mountains and the lands beyond are a very dangerous place, we would be honored if you could accompany us on our quest to Erebor. Of course you would be compensated for your services, a full share of the treasure."
Thorin and a few of the Dwarves made to complain but seemed to hold their tongue and nod to the proposal. "We would be honored to have you join us." The Dwarf Lord told him.
Ranma mulled for a moment then turned to Elrond and said, "Alright then, I'll take your offer. But, if anything happens to her…" The silence was deafening.
The next few days were a whirlwind of preparations and Ranma and the others on the Erebor quest were given reports of what had been happening recently in the mountains (A surprisingly short group of people, only the two sons of Elrond had been out of the Valley for more than 2 weeks at any time). Also whenever Ranma had time to spare he would spend it with Anarien. If any from Nerima had seen the martial artist, they would have been floored by the tenderness, silliness, and patience he had with the infant. He constantly played with her, tickled her belly, talked to her, even let her play with his pigtail. He shuddered to think what his mother would do if she ever saw this.
Finally the day came that the company was to head out.
Ranma was out with the others, horses and ponies were ready with large pack with food and extra clothing. He was holding Anarien and playing with her one last time. He was worried to death about her if she would be alright when he came back, if she would want to be with him when he came back. If he would come back was hovering in the back of his head. Sure he had taken on that crazy guy with the unfortunate name but this was a damn dragon, a fire breathing beast that had driven out an entire mountain of warriors and weapon-smiths and had done it easily, and if that wasn't bad enough this dragon had apparently gotten stronger and tougher since his taking of the Mountain.
He was interrupted from his dark thoughts when Dori called out to the young man. He turned and then sighed and kissed the baby's forehead and whispered, "I promise I'll be back Anari. Wait for me." He then trotted back over towards the others and hopped onto his horse and rode off with the others.
They were at a rise in the mountains and when he looked back he realized that the valley of Imladris was only just barely in sight, and any further would take it out of sight for good until he came back that way. He felt tears coming up but he fought them down, his old man had beaten into his head that a man never cried. His father and Tendo had broken that rule a hundred times over but he was bound and determined not to. Gandalf noticed this, "Why young Ranma, are you crying?"
"No, the wind just got some dust in my eyes." He snapped quickly.
"You're a new father, who has no kin to help take care of his child, and now you're off on an adventure to face a dragon and you fear that you might not come back." Gandalf answered.
Ranma stared at the Istari and stuttered out, "H-How..?"
Gandalf laughed and said, "I have been around for a long time. There is no need to hide your tears let them out or else it will consume you. I have a feeling that you'll be back for her and she will love you like any daughter would love their father."
Ranma nodded and rode off, a smile on his face and a small stream of tears rolling down his face.
A/N: Sappy and hopefully fuzzy for everyone. Next update will most likely be an omake for Shinji of Gaul. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! Also Anarien is supposed to be the female version of Anarion who was the brother of Isildur, whose name was supposed to mean (sun+male) if wrong please review or P.M. but don't flame me!!!!